On the Road Again: Travel Medicine Clinic helps ensure your vacation is a safe one

RICK SNIZEK

Thursday

May 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 1, 2008 at 12:00 AM

ou're finally off on that well-deserved vacation. Your airline tickets and passport are packed securely in your carry on bag. You plan on drinking only bottled water at your exotic destination. So, you've thought of everything, right?

ou're finally off on that well-deserved vacation. Your airline tickets and passport are packed securely in your carry on bag. You plan on drinking only bottled water at your exotic destination. So, you've thought of everything, right?

Well, not exactly.

With long-haul flights to far off locales routinely filling up as vacationers seek out paths less traveled, getting up-to-date medical advice on potential health risks before boarding is an absolute must. And don't count on that dog-eared Lonely Planet guide tucked into your cargo pants' pocket to tell you all you need to know.

Health advisories are updated frequently by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. And someone who makes it his business to help make travelling as safe as possible for the public is just a phone call or local office visit away.

Dr. H. Ram Chowdri runs SouthCoast Hospital's Travel Medicine Clinic, the only one of its kind in the area. From his office at 275 Allen Street in New Bedford, Dr. Chowdri, a Hawthorn Associates physician, routinely sees patients preparing to embark on many different types of journeys, from exhilarating safaris to more sedate tropical beach vacations.

"Yesterday, a couple went to Macchu Pichu, Peru," Dr. Chowdri says of a pair of patients who recently paid him a visit to make sure they were up to date on their immunizations and prepared for any eventualities they might face.

Vaccine requirements vary, sometimes from month-to-month, and even day-to-day, as he discovered while researching Peru and neighboring countries for his patients.

"For Ecuador, one needs yellow fever vaccine, which was not even on the list," he says.

The majority of patients coming to see Dr. Chowdri are bound for Africa and Southeast Asia, with many also heading to South America, the three major places where vaccines for yellow fever, malaria, cholera and other illnesses are usually required. Proof of vaccinations is also a requirement in order to obtain a visa to travel to certain countries as well.

In Central America, where sunny beaches compete with cloud forests for visitors on holiday, danger lurks in the soft sands in the form of parasites that can quickly burrow into barefoot skin.

But one doesn't have to be going only to such exotic places to visit SouthCoast's Travel Medicine Clinic.

An infectious disease specialist in practice, Dr. Chowdri treats travelers experiencing, or hoping not to experience, such ailments as "Montezuma's Revenge," bad sunburns or even insect bites.

An often-overlooked ailment he has seen many patients for is altitude sickness.

Travelers venturing above an altitude of 6,000-8,000 ft., whether by flying into a high-altitude city, driving or riding a bus or train up into the mountains or hiking there are at risk for developing symptoms resulting from fluid leaking from their blood vessels.

Some of the advice Dr. Chowdri dispenses is time-honored, such as drink only bottled water, politely decline ice in beverages, eat only cooked foods and peel your own fruit.

But those seeking his guidance before a trip will become aware of many other things they may not have stopped to think about.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of injury among travelers. He warns his patients against boarding overloaded buses or mini-buses, and advises them that whenever possible, they should hire a local driver.

"I also tell them not to pet dogs or cats," he says. "They may be cute, but most animals are not vaccinated."

Dr. H. Ram Chowdri's office is located at 275 Allen St. in New Bedford, one block from St. Luke's Hospital, and he can be reached at (508) 994-0991.

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